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  4. Class of 2001

Class of 2001

Stepen Birkett

Birkett was a cornerstone for the 1988 CCRI baseball team that made its first ever NJCAA World Series appearance. 

One of the nation’s top-ranked juco pitchers and a first-team All-New England selection in 1988; Birkett had a 9-0 record, 1.11 ERA and 105 strikeouts, including a no-hitter, one-hitter, and two two-hitters as well as striking out 17 in a 7-inning game.

Pitching for two New England championship teams, he had career stats of 15-3, ERA of 1.95, and 165 strikeouts in 123 innings.

At the University of Rhode Island, he led their baseball team in pitching and hitting in 1989 and 1990 (the 1st time in school history). He led the Atlantic-10 in strikeouts (11 per game) and in 1990 he set URI season records for highest batting average (.390), home runs (8), RBIs (38), and conference batting average (.468) while also earning first-team All-New England, first-team All-Atlantic-10, and first-team All-Northeast Region.

John Cardarelli

No CCRI golfer ever has combined athletic and academic brilliance better than Cardarelli did. Besides leading the golf team to successive New England Region XXI championships in 1994 and 1995, as team MVP he helped the team finish No. 5 nationally with a 22-1 record in 1995 and twice was a first-team All-Region and All-Tournament selection.

Yet his junior college student-athlete accolades were starting to be recognized by being selected as a NJCAA Distinguished Academic All-American, NJCAA Academic All-American by Sport, National Scholar-Athlete by the National Alliance of Two-Year College Athletic Administrators and the Izzy Siperstein Award winner as CCRI’s top male student-athlete.  With High Honors, he earned a 3.7 GPA once graduating. 

In 1997, Cardarelli graduated with a B.A. from Notre Dame, majoring in Government and International Relations.  He was in the U.S. Army Reserve, traveling the world extensively, and had served as a Press Secretary for Congressman Dan Burton of Indiana. 

Michael Dunnett

Dunnett was one of CCRI’s deadliest hitters ever. On the 1991 and 1992 baseball teams (62-18 overall record and 37-9 in the region); his potent bat was paramount in the team’s successive New England and Northeast District championships, as well as consecutive appearances in the NJCAA World Series. 

At the time, the Canadian native held or shared an unprecedented 10 individual records, that is including career records for at-bats (308), hits (114), doubles (22), games (78), runs scored (82) and season marks for at-bats (166), runs scored (45), and hits (59).

In 1991, Dunnett was second-team All-New England, All-Colonial Conference and had an appearance in the New England Junior College All-Star game. In 1992, he was first-team All-New England, All-Colonial States Athletic Conference and All-Tourney co-MVP.  Dunnett’s career continued at the University of Alabama at Birmingham where he earned All-Great Midwest Conference first-team and second-team in 1993 and 1995 and was named to the All-Tournament Team for NCAA in 1993.

As an important player in Montpelier, France, Dunnett propelled the team to the 1997 European Cup Championship, was selected as Championship Finals MVP and named to the All-Tournament All-Star team. 

Elaine Benharris Marcus

As CCRI’s first Athletic Department secretary in 1970, Marcus assisted in opening up the Warwick Fieldhouse.  She organized and was responsible for team travel, student help, athletic eligibility, team equipment, and fieldhouse supplies. 

When the Lincoln campus opened, she trained the office staff and helped found the nationally-recognized National Youth Sports Program for disadvantaged youth. Her dedicated and outstanding service resulted in her getting a promotion to Administrative Assistant for Physical Education and Athletics.

She retired in 1980 to begin a career in advertising and served as a High School Representative with New England Institute of Technology. 

Hila Rao

Rao started as a receptionist in the President’s Office in 1976; eventually left a huge imprint in the Athletic Department from 1977 until her retirement in 1997. 

At the Lincoln campus, she was the Athletic Department’s first secretary and administrative assistant. Her superb administrative abilities helped gain the National Youth Sports Program even more nationwide acclaim.  She also was a guiding force during the department’s biggest growth spurt when it expanded to include 15 men’s and women’s competitive sports programs. 

Carlos Rocha

Few could argue about Rocha being one of CCRI’s all-time best men’s soccer players. 

The Lisbon, Portugal native was one of 25 players chosen for the National Junior College Athletic Association’s Men’s Soccer Team of the Century for his accomplishments at CCRI, at Southern Connecticut State University and on professional teams.

The striker had a spectacular season at CCRI in 1993. He was chosen for the National Soccer Coaches Association of America second-team, NJCAA All-American honorable mention squad, All-Region first-team, Colonial States Athletic Conference first-team and was the team’s co-MVP.  At Southern Connecticut State University, Rocha was an integral part of their 1995 NCAA Division II national championship team.

Professionally, Rocha played for the R.I. Stingrays, New England Revolution, second-division teams in Boston, Portugal, England and a first-division team in Ireland; the pinnacle of professional soccer.

Robert Singleton

Singleton was an excellent all-around guard whose outstanding play brought the basketball teams he was on to successful seasons in 1994 and 1995. 

His electrifying moves and excellent scoring touch resulted in 1,056 career points, which puts him 7th on the all-time scorers list. During the ‘93-’94 season, the ex-Mt. Pleasant High School star earned second-team Division III All-American honors in sparking the team to an 8th place finish in the national tournament.

He capped that season by being named as team MVP, All-Region first-team, All-Tourney MVP, Colonial States Athletic Conference All-Conference and All-Tournament. In the ‘94-’95 season, his 19.7 scoring average sparked the team to another winning campaign of 18-10 (16-7 in region), resulting in his 2nd All-Region first-team and All-Region Tournament selections.